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Brits head the field in day 1 of Portimao Superbike testing

Three British riders powered to the front

In the first day of the official Superbike test at the Portimao circuit in Portugal, Leon Haslam was the man most in form as the Suzuki Alstare rider went quickest both in the morning and the afternoon, ending the day on the 1 minute 42.778 second mark, just three-tenths off Ben Spies’ 2009 outright circuit best lap.

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) continued to ease his way into the top category in last year’s title winning team, and he was a fraction behind in second place, while Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) damaged his little finger in the morning run, but bounced back on form to take the third slot.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) failed to improve in the afternoon, but nevertheless ended the day in fourth, a whisker ahead of James Toseland, who has returned to race for Yamaha Sterilgarda this year. Shane Byrne (Althea Racing) continued the British flavour at the top with sixth fastest time.

For the moment the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio are slightly off the pace in seventh and eighth place respectively, while new entrant, American Roger Lee Hayden eased his way into the World Superbike scene for the Kawasaki Pedercini team.

Spanish rider Joan Lascorz dominated the first day of Supersport action at Portimao, the Kawasaki Motocard.com rider going quickest in both sessions after 180 minutes of testing. His time of 1’45”470 was just three-tenths away off the circuit record he set in last October’s race.

But the rider of the day was Michele Pirro, who took his Honda Ten Kate to second place on his debut with the team, just a fraction off the leader’s pace. A major improvement was recorded by Jason DiSalvo, the American rider making his World Supersport debut on the Triumph (tenth) while Paola Cazzola propped up the charts with 14th time on the Honda Kuja.